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Nik Stauskas and Michigan just managed to slip into the Elite Eight on Friday night.

All the good work turned in during an impeccable first half for the Wolverines nearly completely unraveled late, but the team hung on to pull off a 73-71 win.

Tennessee just about wiped out a 15-point deficit, chipping away, getting it down to five with 1:56 remaining and then just three with 23 seconds left after a jumper by Josh Richardson.

Fouls and we’re done from there right? Wrong, a horrid turnover by the Wolverines allowed the Volunteers to get another layup and close within a point. After Caris Levert stepped on the line while Michigan tried to execute an in-bound, Tennessee stunningly had a chance to take the lead, but Jordan Morgan drew a questionable charge on Jarnell Stokes and Stauskas, the Mississauga-born conference player of the year, hit the front end of a 1-and-1 from the line with three seconds left, allowing No. 2 Michigan to escape against the Volunteers, a No. 11 seed that had earlier knocked out UMass and Mercer.

Morgan led the team with 15, Stauskas added 14 and Glenn Robinson III 13, while Zak Irvin hit a trio of threes off of the bench – two in the first half when the game was still close. Irvin’s shooting sparked Michigan to a big lead at the break. The team shot 61.5%, nailing 7-of-9 three-point attempts as the Vols looked completely powerless to slow down the attack.

The highlight of the game, besides all of the bizarre plays at the end, came when a trapped Stauskas cleverly threw the ball off of the backboard to himself, then set up an open teammate who drew a foul from beyond the line.

It’s that kind of cleverness that the sophomore has added to his game this year that, coupled with his shooting ability, makes the Wolverines a dangerous team to take out.

Tennessee thought they had them, but close matters little once the Madness starts.

BLOWN AWAY

In the other early game, the fantastic NCAA career of Brampton’s Melvin Ejim came to a crushing end.

Ejim had issues with the longer Connecticut defenders and shot just 3-for-13 in a seven point, eight rebound effort.

He wasn’t the only Cyclone to struggle. The team couldn’t get anything going offensively in the first half and was lucky to trail by only 10 after hitting just 31% from the field.

UConn’s Shabazz Napier was brilliant, hitting his first four shots, all threes and he and Ryan Boatright had four fewer points at the half than Iowa State had combined.

It was the first NCAA tournament game at Madison Square Garden since 1961 and Napier channeled former teammate Kemba Walker, who famously went off at MSG in the Big East tournament when Napier was a freshman.

No. 3 Iowa State gamely battled back against the No. 7 seeded Huskies, who hit 20-of-22 shots from the line, but DeAndre Daniels was a force, scoring 27 points and helping to limit Ejim, the Big 12 player of the year, at the other end.

Down 16, the Cyclones started rolling behind Dustin Hogue, who finished with 34, and the lead was cut to five several times, but the Huskies held on and Ejim and fellow Canadian Naz Long, a sophomore from Scarborough who also was off, ended their season in disappointing fashion.

Ejim should take solace in the fact that, tough night or not, the Iowa State program wouldn’t have come half as far as it has over the past few years without him.

IF YOU MISSED IT

Thursday was the end of the NCAA experience of a couple of talented Canadians.

Losses by Stanford and Baylor for seniors Dwight Powell, of Toronto and Brady Heslip, of Burlington, left both players short of their goals, but closed the book on fine NCAA tenures.

Heslip, the nephew of Canadian national team head coach Jay Triano, averaged 100 made three-pointers over his three seasons at Baylor after transferring from Boston College. He hit on 44% of his attempts, emerging as one of the NCAA’s premier gunners.

Unfortunately, Heslip had a rough finale against Wisconsin, shooting just 1-for-6.

Powell’s numbers were down from his junior season, but he still averaged 14 points and 6.9 rebounds and is expected to be selected in the second round of the NBA Draft.

Juniors Stefan Nastic of Stanford and Kenny Chery of Baylor will be back next year.

It’s too bad Nastic couldn’t play more against Dayton due to foul trouble, because he had another big tournament game, scoring 15 points. Over Stanford’s three tourney games, the Thornhill native scored 35 points, missing only four of 18 shot attempts.

DWIGHT TAKES FLIGHT

The next step for Stanford senior Dwight Powell will be the NBA.

After two upsets, Stanford fell to Dayton on Thursday. Now, Powell, who is from Toronto, will have to get himself geared up for the draft process. More Canadians than ever before are expected to be picked this year (Andrew Wiggins, Tyler Ennis, Nik Stauskas, Powell and possibly Quebecers Olivier Hanlan and Khem Birch).

Sports Illustrated ran a great piece on Powell earlier this week, detailing how close he is with his teammates and the Cardinal coaching staff. The chief illustration of how much of a bond the team has: They all traveled to Toronto for the funeral of Powell’s mom, Jacqueline Weir, who died of cancer in September of 2012.

Weir helped steer Powell to the IMG Academy in Florida and then to Stanford, making sure academics were just as important to him as basketball. Powell was named MVP and scholar-athlete of the year while at IMG and also starred for his AAU team, Grassroots Canada, before becoming an impact performer for Canada in international competition.

Powell told SI that he stayed in school after last season, despite NBA interest, because he had promised his mother he would get his degree (in science, technology and society) and was eager to get Stanford back to the tournament.

One mission has been accomplished, the other will be taken care of shortly.

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Toronto's Nik Stauskas into NCAA's Elite Eight

Nik Stauskas and Michigan just managed to slip into the Elite Eight on Friday night.

All the good work turned in during an impeccable first half for the Wolverines nearly completely unraveled late, but the team hung on to pull off a 73-71 win.

Tennessee just about wiped out a 15-point deficit, chipping away, getting it down to five with 1:56 remaining and then just three with 23 seconds left after a jumper by Josh Richardson.

Fouls and we’re done from there right? Wrong, a horrid turnover by the Wolverines allowed the Volunteers to get another layup and close within a point. After Caris Levert stepped on the line while Michigan tried to execute an in-bound, Tennessee stunningly had a chance to take the lead, but Jordan Morgan drew a questionable charge on Jarnell Stokes and Stauskas, the Mississauga-born conference player of the year, hit the front end of a 1-and-1 from the line with three seconds left, allowing No. 2 Michigan to escape against the Volunteers, a No. 11 seed that had earlier knocked out UMass and Mercer.